Apparent Competition

Most species have one or more natural enemies, e.g., predators, parasites, pathogens, and herbivores, among others. These species in turn typically attack multiple victim species. This leads to the possibility of indirect interactions among those victims, both positive and negative. The term apparen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics evolution, and systematics, 2017-11, Vol.48 (1), p.447-471
Main Authors: Holt, Robert D, Bonsall, Michael B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
apparent competition
apparent mutualism
biodiversity theory
Biological evolution
Competition
Conservation
Endangered species
Evolution
Harvesting
Herbivores
immune dynamics
Immune system
indirect interactions
Life history
Natural enemies
Parasites
Pathogens
Pest control
Pests
Predation
Predators
Spatial distribution
species coexistence theory
Wildlife conservation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Most species have one or more natural enemies, e.g., predators, parasites, pathogens, and herbivores, among others. These species in turn typically attack multiple victim species. This leads to the possibility of indirect interactions among those victims, both positive and negative. The term apparent competition commonly denotes negative indirect interactions between victim species that arise because they share a natural enemy. This indirect interaction, which in principle can be reflected in many facets of the distribution and abundance of individual species and more broadly govern the structure of ecological communities in time and space, pervades many natural ecosystems. It also is a central theme in many applied ecological problems, including the control of agricultural pests, harvesting, the conservation of endangered species, and the dynamics of emerging diseases. At one end of the scale of life, apparent competition characterizes intriguing aspects of dynamics within individual organisms-for example, the immune system is akin in many ways to a predator that can induce negative indirect interactions among different pathogens. At intermediate scales of biological organization, the existence and strength of apparent competition depend upon many contingent details of individual behavior and life history, as well as the community and spatial context within which indirect interactions play out. At the broadest scale of macroecology and macroevolution, apparent competition may play a major, if poorly understood, role in the evolution of species' geographical ranges and adaptive radiations.
ISSN:1543-592X
1545-2069
DOI:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022628